Hodgson says Vardy may have to wing it

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Manchester - England manager Roy Hodgson
defended his decision to deploy Jamie Vardy in a wide role after the Leicester
City striker struck the winner in a 2-1 success against Turkey.

Vardy scored 24 goals from a central role
to fire Leicester to Premier League glory this season, only to find himself
lining up on the left flank in a 4-3-3 formation in Sunday's Euro 2016 warm-up
match at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium.

But after being moved into the centre, he
won a second-half penalty, which strike partner Harry Kane squandered, before
netting a close-range winner in the 83rd minute to take his tally to three
goals in three England games.

"We need to be able to play both
systems," said Hodgson, whose team will also play Australia and Portugal
prior to Euro 2016.

"I don't believe that asking a player
like Vardy, or (Danny) Welbeck in the past, to play as a forward on the left or
the right side is anything which should cause them any particular problems.

"We've had great success with Welbeck,
(Wayne) Rooney and (Raheem) Sterling. We might recreate that with other
players. But certainly I don't think we should get ourselves hamstrung in saying
that if Jamie Vardy's going to play, we can only play in one system.

"Because Jamie Vardy is going to be
one of 23 players and there will be other quality front players looking to
compete with him for places.

"I spoke to Jamie before the game. He
was more than happy to play in either system and I think it was a success
because he's come away with a penalty and a goal."

Vardy, 29, will miss England's next
friendly against Australia in Sunderland on Friday as he is getting married on
Wednesday.

Hodgson will recover his Manchester United
and Liverpool players on Monday - including strikers Wayne Rooney, Marcus
Rashford and Daniel Sturridge - after they missed Sunday's game due to club
commitments.

He was quietly optimistic about 18-year-old
Rashford, his wildcard pick, who hobbled off with a suspected knee injury
during United's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in Saturday's FA Cup final at
Wembley.

"We believe it's not a serious injury,
but he obviously took a nasty knock," said Hodgson, who gave run-outs to
fit-again midfielders Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson.

"We'll have to wait and see tomorrow
how he turns up."

Kane's fifth international goal gave
England a third-minute lead, but Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu
levelled 10 minutes later by sweeping home from Volkan Sen's cross.

Kane wasted a chance to restore England's
lead in the second half when he clipped the post from the spot after Mehmet
Topal was adjudged to have fouled Vardy.

But Vardy spared the Tottenham Hotspur
striker's blushes by pouncing to score after Gary Cahill's header was parried
by visiting goalkeeper Volkan Babacan.

It was Turkey's first defeat in 14 games,
but manager Fatih Terim, whose side have also qualified for Euro 2016, told
Turkish media: "I am happy with the team.

"Players from the Turkish league
fought neck-and-neck with players from the world's most expensive league. I
really wanted to win this match though.

"Because with this win we could have
moved from 13th-ranked team in the world to the top 10. But we are happy to
have made such a match in England."

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